Publication Date

12-2019

Date of Final Oral Examination (Defense)

10-7-2019

Type of Culminating Activity

Thesis

Degree Title

Master of Arts in Political Science

Department

Political Science

Major Advisor

Michael A. Allen, Ph.D.

Advisor

Stephen Utych, Ph.D.

Advisor

Ross Burkhart, Ph.D.

Abstract

I analyze the effects of economic and informational globalization on the diffusion of military capabilities in the 20th and 21st centuries. To test these relationships, I use the KOF Swiss Economic Institute’s data on economic and informational globalization and the Correlates of War data on National Material Capabilities for all states of the international system from 1970 to 2011. Using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression of all states with standard errors clustered at the state-level, I find that economic globalization negatively correlates with increases in military capabilities; while informational globalization positively correlates with increases in military capabilities. These findings suggest increases in economic globalization leads states to pursue an antithetical approach towards military capabilities, thereby lending support to the argument that economic interdependence decreases the likelihood of interstate conflict. However, the augmentation of informational globalization appears to validate previous arguments which posit that the prevalence of information technology systems is enlarging the military capabilities of states.

DOI

10.18122/td/1617/boisestate

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